The present invention relates generally to fuel tanks for vehicles and, more particularly, to a dual barrel jet fuel pump assembly for a fuel tank of a vehicle.
It is known to provide a fuel tank for a vehicle to hold fuel to be used by an engine of the vehicle. In some vehicles, the fuel tank includes a fuel pump module disposed therein with a removable cover sealed to the top of the fuel tank having an electrical connector and a fuel line outlet connector. The fuel pump module includes a fuel reservoir, an electrical fuel pump disposed in the reservoir with an inlet at a bottom thereof, and a secondary pump used to fill the reservoir to overfilling. This overfilling of the reservoir allows the generation of vapors due to the agitation of the fuel as well as the mixing of the hot fuel, being returned from an engine of the vehicle, with bulk fuel.
An example of a fuel pump module is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,942 to Coha et al. In this patent, the fuel pump module includes a fuel pump disposed in the reservoir, a low pressure conduit conducting hot return fuel back to the reservoir, a secondary pump disposed in the reservoir for pumping new fuel from the fuel tank into the reservoir, and a control which effects a recirculation mode of secondary pump operation when the new fuel level in the fuel tank is above a predetermined low level and a scavenge mode of secondary pump operation when the new fuel level in the reservoir is below the predetermined low level. The secondary pump includes a high-pressure jet pump having consistent flow and a float mechanism to switch the jet pump from drawing external fuel to the reservoir and vice versa.
Jet pumps are used extensively in fuel tank reservoirs in both high-pressure and low-pressure versions. These jet pumps are also used as remote devices to scavenge fuel in large fuel tanks and saddle type fuel tanks. In saddle type fuel tanks, there are typically two jet pumps, one to fill the fuel reservoir, and one to scavenge fuel in the remote tank section of the fuel tank. One concern is that the amount of return, or bypass fuel, required to power both jet pumps. Another concern is that a significant increase in the number of components and plumbing required when running a dual jet pump system. Some saddle tank systems incorporate a remote return line jet pump and a high-pressure jet pump that is fed by the fuel pump. In other systems, the high-pressure jet pump is replaced with a first-stage-fill fuel pump. In all cases, these are quite complicated systems and involve a lot of components and plumbing.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a new jet fuel pump for a fuel tank in a vehicle. It is also desirable to provide a secondary fuel pump for a fuel tank in a vehicle that reduces vapor generation. It is further desirable to provide a secondary fuel pump for a fuel tank in a vehicle that has no moving or extra parts.
It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide a new dual barrel jet fuel pump assembly for a fuel tank in a vehicle.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a dual barrel jet fuel pump assembly for a fuel tank in a vehicle that lifts fuel over a hump on a saddle type fuel tank with a dual jet pump in a fuel reservoir.
To achieve the foregoing objects, the present invention is a dual barrel jet fuel pump assembly for a fuel tank in a vehicle including a reservoir adapted to be disposed in a primary side of the fuel tank and having a top defining an overflow fuel level of the reservoir. The dual barrel jet fuel pump assembly also includes a first conduit conducting return fuel from an engine of the vehicle to the reservoir and a second conduit extending to an auxiliary side of the fuel tank. The dual barrel jet fuel pump assembly further includes a dual barrel jet pump disposed in the reservoir and having a first inlet operatively connected to the first conduit and a second inlet operatively connected to said second conduit to fill the reservoir with fuel from the primary side and auxiliary side of the fuel tank.
One advantage of the present invention is that a dual barrel jet fuel pump assembly is provided for a fuel tank in a vehicle. Another advantage of the present invention is that the dual barrel jet fuel pump assembly allows a primary area and an auxiliary area of the fuel tank to be scavenged with a single unique dual barrel jet pump contained in the primary area of the fuel tank. Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the dual barrel jet fuel pump assembly reduces the number of components and complexity.